I Believe

“I believe in the immeasurable power of love;

 that true love can endure any circumstance 

and reach across any distance.”

~ Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: 

Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

Frida Kahlo to Marty McConnell - Leaving is not enough

"Leaving is not enough; you must

stay gone. train your heart

like a dog. change the locks

even on the house he’s never

visited. you lucky, lucky girl.

you have an apartment

just your size. a bathtub

full of tea. a heart the size

of Arizona, but not nearly

so arid. don’t wish away

your cracked past, your

crooked toes, your problems

are papier mache puppets

you made or bought because the vendor

at the market was so compelling you just

had to have them. you had to have him.

and you did. and now you pull down

the bridge between your houses,

you make him call before

he visits, you take a lover

for granted, you take

a lover who looks at you

like maybe you are magic. make

the first bottle you consume

in this place a relic. place it

on whatever altar you fashion

with a knife and five cranberries.

don’t lose too much weight.

stupid girls are always trying

to disappear as revenge. and you

are not stupid. you loved a man

with more hands than a parade

of beggars, and here you stand. heart

like a four-poster bed. heart like a canvas.

heart leaking something so strong

they can smell it in the street.”

~ Marty McConnell

Sometimes

“Sometimes the one who is running 

from the Life/Death/Life nature 

insists on thinking of love as a boon only. 

Yet love in its fullest form 

is a series of deaths and rebirths. 

We let go of one phase, 

one aspect of love, 

and enter another. 

Passion dies and is brought back. 

Pain is chased away 

and surfaces another time. 

To love means to embrace 

and at the same time to withstand many endings, 

and many many beginnings - 

all in the same relationship.”

~ Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves: 

Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype

This Love

“This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience - 

it looks for a way of being constructive.

Love is not possessive.

Love is not anxious to impress 

nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own ideas.

Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage.

Love is not touchy.

Love does not keep account of evil 

or gloat over the wickedness of other people. 

On the contrary, 

it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.

Love knows no limits to its endurance, 

no end to its trust, 

no fading of its hope; 

it can outlast anything. 

It is, in fact, the one thing that stands 

when all else has fallen.”

~ Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me be a Woman

I Suppose

“I suppose that since most of our hurts 

come through relationships so will our healing, 

and I know that grace rarely makes sense 

for those looking in from the outside.”

~ Wm. Paul Young, The Shack

I Love You

“I love you. 

I hate you. 

I  like you. 

I hate you. 

I love you. 

I think you’re stupid. 

I think you’re a loser.

I think you’re wonderful. 

I want to be with you. 

I don’t want to be with you. 

I would never date you. 

I hate you. 

I love you…

I think the madness started the moment we met and you shook my hand. 

Did you have a disease or something?”

~ Shannon L. Alder

You Know

“You know that when I hate you, 

it is because I love you to a point of passion that unhinges my soul.”

~ Julie de Lespinasse

Assumptions

“Assumptions are the termites of relationships.”

~ Henry Winkler

I'm Not Crying

“I'm not crying because of you; you're not worth it. 

I'm crying because my delusion of who you were 

was shattered by the truth of who you are.”

~ Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: 

Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

Because Introverts Are

“Because introverts are typically good listeners and, 

at least, have the appearance of calmness, 

we are attractive to emotionally needy people. 

Introverts, gratified that other people are initiating with them, 

can easily get caught in these exhausting and unsatisfying relationships.”

~ Adam S. McHugh

Thought I Couldn't Live WIthout You

“Thought I couldn't live without you

It's gonna hurt when it heals too

Even though I really love you

I'm gonna smile cause I deserve to

Quickly I'm learning to love again

All I know is I'mma be ok”

~ Leona Lewis

And Now You are and I Am

“And now you are and I am and we're a mystery 

which will never happen again.”

~ E.E. Cummings

Love

“Love.

Not the kind you see in the movies or hear about on the radio.

The real kind.

The kind that gets beaten down and bloody, yet perseveres.

The kind that hopes even when hope seems foolish.

The kind that can forgive. 

The kind that believes in healing.

The kind that can sit in silence and feel renewed.

The real kind of love.

It's rare and we have it...”

~ Chelsea Fine, Sophie & Carter

Because Isn't That The Point

 

“Because isn’t that the point of every relationship: 

to be known by someone else, to be understood? 

He gets me. She gets me. 

Isn’t that the simple magic phrase?”

~ Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

Physical Love

“Physical love is unthinkable without violence.”

~ Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

I Believe In Love The Verb

“I believe in love the verb, not the noun.”

~ Greg Behrendt, He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys

Someone Real

“Someone real," I hear myself saying. 

"Someone who never has to pretend, 

and who I never have to pretend around. 

Someone who's smart, but knows how to laugh at himself. 

Someone who would listen to a symphony and start to cry, 

because he understands music can be too big for words. 

Someone who knows me better than I know myself. 

Someone I want to talk to first thing in the morning 

and last thing at night. 

Someone I feel like I've known my whole life, 

even if I haven't.”

~ Jodi Picoult, Sing You Home

Have You Ever Noticed

“Have you ever noticed how parents can go 

from the most wonderful people in the world 

to totally embarrassing in three seconds?”

~ Rick Riordan, The Red Pyramid

We Know From Daily Life

“We know from daily life that we exist for other people first of all, 

for whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.”

~ Albert Einstein

The Reason

“The reason we all like to think so well of others 

is that we are all afraid for ourselves. 

The basis of optimism is sheer terror.”

~ Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oh, You Know

“Oh, you know. Jace reminds me of an old boyfriend. 

Some guys look at you like they want sex. 

Jace looks at you like you've already had sex, 

it was great, and now you're just friends --

even though you want more. Drives girls crazy. 

You know what I mean?"

Yes, Clary thought. "No," she said.

~ Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes

An Unarticulated Crush

“An unarticulated crush is very different 

from an unrequited one, 

because at least with an unrequited crush you 

know what the hell you're doing, 

even if the other person isn't doing it back. 

An unarticulated crush is harder to grapple with, 

because it's a crush that you haven't 

even admitted to yourself. 

The romantic forces are all there -- you want to see him, 

you always notice him, 

you treat every word from him as if it 

weighs more than anyone else's. 

But you don't know why. 

You don't know that you're doing it. 

You'd follow him to the end of the earth 

without ever admitting that your feet were moving.”

~ David Levithan, Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

If Equal Affection Cannot Be

“If equal affection cannot be,

Let the more loving one be me.”

~ W.H. Auden

We Rip Out So Much

“We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured 

of things faster than we should that we go 

bankrupt by the age of thirty and have 

less to offer each time we start with someone new. 

But to feel nothing so as not to feel anything —what a waste!”

~ André Aciman, Call Me by Your Name

We Are Not Written

“We are not written for one instrument alone; 

I am not, neither are you.”

~ André Aciman, Call Me by Your Name

Most Men

“Most men claim to desire driven, independent and confident women. 

Yet when confronted with such a creature reverence often evolves into resent. For just like women, men need to be needed.”

~ Tiffany Madison

Intimacy

“Intimacy is the capacity to be rather weird with someone - 

and finding that that's ok with them.”

~ Alain de Botton

Submission

“Submission is not about authority and it is not obedience; 

it is all about relationships of love and respect.”

― Wm. Paul Young, The Shack

My Girlfriend

“My girlfriend is sad and quiet and 

keeps me up all night worrying about her.”

~ Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor & Park

She Was The Third Beer

“She was the third beer. 

Not the first one, which the throat receives 

with almost tearful gratitude;

 nor the second, that confirms and extends 

the pleasure of the first. 

But the third, the one you drink because it's there, 

because it can't hurt, and because 

what difference does it make?”

~ Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

I Just...

“I just... I just miss him. 

And I hate being so alone.”

~ Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

I Got My Heart's Desire

“I got my heart's desire, and there my troubles began.”

~ Lev Grossman, The Magicians

You Know That When I Hate You

“You know that when I hate you, 

it is because I love you to a point of 

passion that unhinges my soul.”

― Julie de Lespinasse

You Couldn't Just Pick and Choose

“You couldn't just pick and choose at will when 

someone depended on you, or loved you. 

It wasn't like a light switch, easy to turn on or off. 

If you were in, you were in. Out, you were out.”

― Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

Wanting Him to Come Back

“Wanting him to come back before anyone 

notices part of the world has not moved since he left.”

~ Brian Andreas

“The Words ‘I Love You’

“The words ‘I Love You’ 

kill, and resurrect millions, 

in less than a second.”

~ Aberjhani, Elemental: 

The Power of Illuminated Love

She Was A Beautiful Dreamer

“She was a beautiful dreamer. 

The kind of girl, who kept her head in the clouds, 

loved above the stars and left regret 

beneath the earth she walked on.”

~ Robert M Drake

The Words ‘I Love You’

“The words ‘I Love You’ kill, 

and resurrect millions, 

in less than a second.”

~ Aberjhani, Elemental: The Power of Illuminated Love

That Night When You Kissed Me

“That night when you kissed me,

 I left a poem in your mouth, 

and you can hear some of the lines 

every time you breathe out.”

~ Andrea Gibson

Trust

“Trust is the glue of life. 

It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. 

It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

~ Stephen R. Covey

If You're Trapped

“If you're trapped in the dream of the Other, you're fucked.”

~ Gilles Deleuze

My Head'll Explode

“My head’ll explode if I continue with this escapism.”

~ Jess C Scott, EyeLeash: A Blog Novel

Sometimes I Get Real Lonely

“Sometimes I get real lonely sleeping with you.”

~ Haruki Murakami, A Wild Sheep Chase

One of the Best Times

“One of the best times for figuring out who you are 

& what you really want out of life? 

Right after a break-up.”

~ Mandy Hale, The Single Woman: 

Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass

Rejection

“Rejection is an opportunity for your selection.”

~ Bernard Branson

Trust

“Trust is the fruit of a relationship 

in which you know you are loved.”

~ William P. Young

Last Night

“Last night I was seriously considering whether 

I was a bisexual or not but I don’t think so 

though I’m not sure if I’d like to be and argh 

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, 

if you like a person, you like the person, not their genitals.”

~ Jess C Scott, Tongue-Tied

I Cannot Have A Man Who Is Afraid of Everything

“I cannot have a man who is afraid of everything, 

I don't have the time to soothe insecurities and fears, 

I cannot have a man who is standing on a stone by a creek, 

watching for the fish to swim by and every time he sees a fish he says 

"Oh look, this fish scares me, I wonder what this fish means, 

this fish might mean- this, or this fish might mean- that" for God's sake, 

they are just fish, and they don't mean anything! 

Such a sad thing, so many fine, 

strong men standing on top of little stones, 

pointing at fish all the time! Such a waste! Such a waste of time! 

I can only have a man who will leap into the water, 

not minding the damn fish and whatever other little things that scare him. 

I need to have someone who is braver than me; 

if I am a pirate, he has to be the pirate Captain, 

if I am a pirate Captain he has to be the flying dragon.”

~ C. JoyBell C.

I Got My Heart's Desire

“I got my heart's desire, and there my troubles began.”

~ Lev Grossman, The Magicians

We Ruined Each Other

“We ruined each other by being together. 

We destroyed each other’s dreams.”

~ Kate Chisman, Run